


if I stay here would you come back

by undercelestialstars



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, What am I doing, kind of, klangst, to be exact
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-14
Packaged: 2019-01-17 06:46:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12359847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/undercelestialstars/pseuds/undercelestialstars
Summary: a promise made, Keith knows, is a promise to be kept.





	if I stay here would you come back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wheo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wheo/gifts).
  * Inspired by [would you stay up to figure this out some way](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12321576) by [orphan_account](https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account). 



> Wow, ok, my first work posted and it's not even one of my ideas.
> 
> It's best if you read "would you stay up to figure this out some way" first because this won't make sense otherwise and also it's a beautiful, beautiful fanfic. 
> 
> Title is taken from Coming Over by James Hersey. Pidge uses she/them pronouns.

Waking up next to Lance is strange in how right it is. The sharpshooter lays so close, close enough that Keith can nearly count the eyelashes brushing his cheek. Their hands are pressed together, fingers barely brushing but still echoing the position of a promise. There's a low chatter from just behind them, a quiet snickering, and his back aches from the cold floor. But Lance's face is peaceful in his sleep for once, and try as he may to hide it from the rest of the team, Keith knows that he has trouble sleeping. They all do.

A foot nudges his back softly, and he spends a rather embarrassing minute trying to figure out how far his neck can bend without turning his body away from the other sleeping man. He gives up and pulls his hand away, ignoring how Lance's hand flexes and falls when his fingers leave an absence in the space between them.

"Hey, Keith," Hunk whispers from behind him, sitting with his legs splayed open on the floor. Keith sits up slowly, turning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stretches his back, wincing a little at the pops and cracks of his bones and joints.

"Hey," he greets. Pidge and Allura look up to him at the sound of his voice, not quite loud or quiet in the stillness morning brings here, to this metal chamber. Allura looks inexplicably pleased and Pidge is elbows deep in some metal contraption, mumbling to herself.

"Mornin', sleeping beauty," they tease, setting aside the half-disassembled machine quietly. Keith raises a hand in a wave, ignoring the spread of warmth in his cheeks and pointedly not looking back at Lance. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he murmurs, and she smiles. It's absolutely more of a smirk, but he's not acknowledging it. Allura moves her arm in a vague gesture towards him.

"How's your back?" she asks. The flush Keith is trying to will back is steadily gaining intensity, under this much care from his teammates.

"It hurts a bit," he answers a little reluctantly. Honesty about weakness doesn't come easy.

"Make sure to stretch before training then, yeah?" Hunk cuts in. Keith nods and gives him a small smile.

Lance shifts in his sleep, mumbling incoherently, drawing their attention to his form on the floor, now curled into a protective ball. Allura stands, a smooth, near silent movement.

"Come along then, team, let's get going to breakfast, now." She stands up, but then pauses. "I'm glad to see you two are bonding, though," she tells him quietly, and then sweeps out of the room. (Allura, in all her fighting and defending, is a figure of constant grace. Keith debates his choice of verbs but really, sweeping out is exactly what she did.) Pidge hauls the metalwork into their arms and Hunk trails after, waving cheerfully, the rest of the team's footsteps loud even as they fade. Keith stands, looking out after them, and the sound of the hangar door closing seems to be so definite, echoing.

"Keith?" Lance asks over the fading noise. Keith turns to him, looks at him. He sits up, wide-eyed, mouth fallen open, looking like he lost something, and Keith is filled with a sinking feeling like guilt.

He sits back down. Lance tries to hide his relief but Keith still knows.

_He thought I was leaving._

"Hey man," Keith greets him tentatively. Lance grins crookedly back and rotates his shoulders, no doubt trying to dispell the discomfort of sleeping on the cold, hard floor.

"Hey, man." They stare into each other's eyes for a long moment, before Lance suddenly breaks away, face going red. He scrambles to his feet.

Keith follows, a little bit alarmed. Lance takes a deep breath and starts speaking quickly, words punctuated with jerky, aborted waves of his arms.

"Listen," he starts, and shrugs his shoulder with a harsh, stiff movement, "what- what you said last night was- it was nice of you to say because I was, you know, breaking down and-" Lance drags his fingers through his hair harshly and paces a little. "You just- please just know that you really, really don't have to keep that promise, okay?" He turns to Keith, eyes a little wild, body trembling ever so slightly, brain obviously working in overdrive.

Keith grabs his arms, pulling him closer by the wrists until they stand face to face, hands so close to being intertwined between them.

"I meant what I said," Keith doesn't break eye contact, expression earnest. Lance's gaze darts to their hands before meeting his eyes hesitantly. "I meant _all_ of it."

Lance's voice breaks when he speaks. "But you don't _have_ to-"

Keith slides his hands down and hooks their pinkies again, for the second time. "I _want_ to," he says fiercely. And then pauses, uncertain. He looks down.

"You deserve to see your home again. To be at home again." He looks back up, face open and vulnerable. "And... If I could... I want to make _my_ home with _you_."

Lance is staring at him, eyes wide, mouth fallen partly open with shock. Keith flushes to the tips of his ears and turns away, hugging himself.

"I... Sorry," he mutters. "That... I'm so stupid, I'm sorry." Lance makes a startled noise and before he can react, the other man is grabbing his arm and pulling him around.

"No," says Lance, a little breathless. "No, Keith," He takes a moment, and then smiles broadly, teeth and all. "I want to help make a place for you to call home, too. I... I want you to make your home with me, too. " Keith inhales sharply, mouth opened, ready to speak, but Lance isn't done.

"Won't you carve a home in your heart for me?"

Keith's breath falls away for a moment. Lance takes his hand and presses it to his chest, the tips of his fingers brushing the open skin on his collarbone, exposed in the robe. Lance is still looking at him.

"You can- you can find your home in people, too, you know," Lance continues. Keith breathes into the moment, Lance's skin beneath his fingers, his face open and trusting.

"I think I already have," Keith says, voice small. Lance closes his eyes for a second, and lays a hand on Keith's chest. Leans closer, and rests his forehead on Keith's.

"I think that I have, too," he admits.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments keep me alive, and go give dysfunctional some love because she deserves it!


End file.
